The brief

Charles Holborne is a barrister in 1960s London, where gangsters, racial and social prejudice, and bloody turf wars are part of everyday life. He handles the most violent offenders the city produces, and his courtroom wins have earned him a name in Soho's underworld as a lawyer who delivers. That reputation sits badly with the more respectable members of his profession. Charles, however, is not quite the man he appears to be, and he is struggling with his own inner torments and a past he has not left behind.

When his wife Henrietta, who has been unfaithful to him, is discovered dead with her throat cut, Charles becomes the suspect. Now he is the one facing a charge, and the penalty for murder is the gallows. Can he uncover what really happened to Henrietta and clear his name before it is too late?

The story is drawn from a real case and from genuine court documents. Its setting is the seedy glamour of the Swinging Sixties, and it is aimed at readers who enjoy crime fiction with a courtroom edge.